File this under: No Duh!
You may have seen this flyer in your local convenience store somewhere near the register. The Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) created this promotional campaign to let consumers and retailers know what is and is not appropriate to purchase with a Massachusetts Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Card.
This should be common sense, but we all know common sense is becoming less common. With all the fervor around EBT card abuse many MA taxpayers have called for tougher restrictions on the EBT.
So for those who do not know you cannot use your EBT Card to purchase:
Alcohol, Lottery Tickets, Tobacco products, Tattoos/Body Piercing, Gambling, Porn, Court fees/fines/bail, Vacations and…. Guns and ammunition.
Maybe its better to say you shouldn’t buy rather than can’t. The flyer also has warnings for 1st, 2nd and 3rd offenses. 1st offense you must pay back the money you spent on prohibited items. 2nd offense you must pay back the money and EBT benefits are suspended for 2 months. 3rd offense you must pay back the money and permanently lose EBT benefits. So at least in theory you can purchase guns, alcohol, porn, etc. and if the DTA finds out then you have 3 chances at the forbidden fruit.
Things that make you go hmmmm….
I propose that we apply these same rules to politicians, and I’m serious as a heart attack. Let’s demand that elected officials not be allowed to spend any of their tax payer paid salaries on the same things.
sol- I can appreciate your sentiment. But EBT is supposed to be for food and necessities, isn’t it? People, presumably even politicians, work for a salary and then its theirs with no strings. The employer and employee agree to trade labor for money and benefits. Very different than ebt.
So, why would you begin to compare the two?